Winter road maintenance pushed city slightly over budget in 2017

Greater Sudbury spent $1.4 million more than budgeted in 2017, out of a total budget of more than $500 million, members of the finance committee were told this week.

Reserve funds will be used to make up the shortfall, since it's illegal for municipalities to run a deficit. A number of departments were overbudget, but underexpenditures in other areas kept the final figure at $1.4 million.

The main culprit in the budget overruns was the roads department, which spent $2 million more than forecast, mainly in winter road plowing and maintenance. In contrast, a surge in applications for building permits meant that department brought in $1.9 million more in revenue than budgeted.

Other highlights:

An increase in how much the city will have to pay as a result of “legal actions pending against the city” led to an increase of $250,000. Legal costs overall are also $350,000 overbudget “resulting from a significant increase in the amount and uniqueness of protracted litigation files.”

These costs were partially offset by an increase in investment revenue of $270,000.

The biggest unexpected source of revenue is $950,000 resulting from fines levied under the Provincial Offences Act, far more money than expected.

In the animal control department, which the city took over from the private sector a few year ago, tag revenue is less than forecast, and along with higher than forecast expenses, led to a $130,000 overexpenditure. They also took in $50,000 less in animal licenses than expected and spent $100,000 more in staffing costs.

Greater Sudbury Transit was overbudget by $940,000, brought on by things such as a shortfall in bus fare revenue of $240,000 and maintenance costs that were $805,000 more than expected. But salary costs were $180,000 less than forecast, largely due to vacancies.

Emergency Medical Services came in $560,000 underbudget, mostly because they had staff on leave due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the city was unable to find replacements.

Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines.